EXCLUSIVESkokie, Illinois-based Hallmark Data Systems, a circulation fulfillment provider, has been sold to EBSCO, the world’s largest full-service subscription agency. The deal closed yesterday, says Ray Miller, Hallmark’s chairman.The Jordan, Edmiston Group represented Hallmark in the deal.Tinicum Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, is the seller, and has owned Hallmark since 2003 when it purchased the company from SourceLink. Tinicum also owned Palm Coast Data before selling it to Allied Capital in 2005, which then sold it to Kable Media services in January 2007 for $92 million. “I feel grateful for what Tinicum did, which was to be a great owner and find us a really good fit,” says Miller, who describes the purchase as a change of ownership.Hallmark, which is 40 years old and services over 400 titles, is number-one in b-to-b publishing market share, says Miller.EBSCO, a print and electronic subscription manager and information services provider, has partnerships with over 79,000 publishers.According to Miller, Hallmark will remain in its Skokie headquarters.read more

Source Interlink Media’s enthusiast sports group, GrindMedia, bought Dirt Sports and Off-Road Industry magazines from Ryan Communications Group this week. The deal sets up a new Dirt Sports group within Grind for Source, which also includes existing titles Dirt Rider, ATV Rider, Endurocross and Motocross.com. Ryan Communications founder Jim Ryan will head up the new group.The deal is the second one for GrindMedia, which bought Baseball America last December. The GrindMedia group is Source’s gen-y, young male consumer group, which, says the company, reaches a monthly audience of 20,000,000 along with other brands such as Skateboarder, Bike, Powder and Slam. The latter recently extended its model into Football with the release of TD and TDdaily.com.

19 Bella A quick housekeeping note: If you’ve been wishing for a better way to find Cheapskate deals in the CNET app, your wish is granted! The latest iOS version of the app (Android update coming soon!) features an all-new Deals tab, with all the latest Cheapskate posts right up top. Check it out!Today’s deal isn’t my usual cup of stew, but it’s too good to pass up — especially if you like stew.For a limited time, and while supplies last, Macy’s has the Bella 13973 5-quart programmable slow-cooker for $25 shipped. A $15 mail-in rebate (PDF) drops your total price to just $10. It normally sells for $45. Update: Not surprisingly, this is sold out.See it at Macy’sA mail-in rebate? Man, haven’t seen one of those in a while. And this one does indeed need to be mailed; there’s no online option (though you can track the status that way, at least). The $15 comes back to you in the form of a prepaid Visa card. Although the turnaround time isn’t specified on the rebate form, expect it to take anywhere from six to 10 weeks.If you don’t already own a slow-cooker, do yourself a favor. They’re ridiculously easy to use — just dump stuff in and let it cook — and they’re good for everything from soups and stews to bread and hot wings. Here’s a Kindle ebook with 1,001 slow-cooker recipes for just 99 cents.Read more: 10 easy and delicious slow-cooker recipesThis model is noteworthy not just for its spiffy stainless-steel finish, but also because it’s programmable: You can set a countdown timer anywhere from 20 minutes to 30 hours. Bella backs the unit with a two-year warranty.Also noteworthy: Over 500 buyers collectively rated this 4.6 stars out of 5. And it’s a good bet many of those were based on a higher price.Your thoughts? Are you willing to deal with rebate hassles in order to score a killer crock-pot deal?Read more: 3 unexpected ways to use your slow-cooker Freshen up your house for the holidays with a slow cooker Bonus deal: If one smart outlet is good, four must be better, right? That’s the idea behind the Incipio CommandKit, which might otherwise be mistaken for a traditional four-outlet power strip.Four smart (for Apple HomeKit) outlets for just $10. Incipio It debuted at CES 2017 with a rather steep $100 price tag. Today, however, and for a limited time, Daily Steals (via Facebook) has the Incipio CommandKit Power Strip for just $9.99 shipped.See it at FacebookJust to be clear, this isn’t a surge protector, and it doesn’t appear that Incipio added Alexa support, as originally announced at CES. Instead, the CommandKit supports Apple HomeKit (and, by proxy, Siri), though you can also use the CommandKit app to set up automation for the outlets.That app also lets you monitor energy consumption, which is kind of cool. Just take note that this now-discontinued product doesn’t even exist on Incipio’s site, and reviews for the app aren’t great. (As for the power strip itself, I haven’t found a single review to speak of.) But if your home is already doing the Apple/Siri-automation thing, this is an awfully cheap way to add some smart outlets.Bonus deal No. 2: Game time! If you like Metroidvania-style games — tricky action-platformers that combine elements of Metroid and Castlevania — you’ll love this: For a limited time, the Epic Store is offering Axiom Verge (for Windows) for free. Regular price: $13.99.See it at EpicThis retro indie platformer debuted in 2015 to mostly glowing reviews. To get it, you’ll need an Epic account and the Epic client on your desktop. Now playing: Watch this: Tags The Cheapskate CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter! 0:43 Share your voice 23 Photos Best laptops for college students: We’ve got an affordable laptop for every student. Best live TV streaming services: Ditch your cable company but keep the live channels and DVR. 22 games we want to see on the Nintendo Switch Comments Small Appliances Video Games Smart Plugs and Switchesread more

Representative Image.ReutersThe incidents of Sikh pilgrims being recruited by Pakistani intelligence agencies for pushing the pro-Khalistan movement have become a matter of concern for Indian security establishment. The issue of ISI supporting the “Referendum 2020” campaign has come to the fore a week before India meets Pakistan to discuss Kartarpur Corridor operations.While Pakistan has banned the pro-Khalistan activities, a senior Indian security official revealed that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been promoting the agenda under the guise of Sikh pilgrimage.He revealed that Indian Sikh Jathas, who visit Pakistan under the Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974, are targeted by the separatist organisation. “Sikhs coming directly to Pakistan from Canada, UK and Germany are tutored on the so-called referendum campaign, which is largely funded by Islamabad,” he told the Hindustan Times. Referendum2020 Official websiteThe official website of Referendum 2020 describes the movement as “a campaign to liberate Punjab, currently occupied by India.” Last year, India had announced the development of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. It will connect the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev – Darbar Sahib in Pakistan with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India.Both the countries are scheduled to meet on July 14 to discuss infrastructure, logistics along the proposed corridor.Social media and ISIIt is reported that social media has played a major role in the spread of the pro-Khalistan movement. Authorities tracking the movement have said interests have spiked after both the countries announced the opening of Kartarpur corridor in 2018. “There has been a greater focus on spreading Khalistani propaganda online,” a senior fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Sushant Sareen, told The Print. “It’s the cheapest, most cost-effective way to spread propaganda,” he added.”There are Pakistani fingerprints all over this,” said Sareen regarding the revival of the Khalistan movement through protests and petitions like Referendum 2020. “For instance, Khalistan support groups in Canada are openly supported by Pakistani diplomats who are undercover ISI agents,” reported The Print. Representative Image.ReutersIn March, a man hailing from Punjab’s Pakistan border region Fazilka was arrested by Amritsar State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) for providing information on the Indian Army units along the Indo-Pak border. The accused confessed that he passed official information to Pakistan Intelligence Operatives over WhatsApp in exchange for money.Last month, a man hailing from Punjab’s Moga district was arrested for passing military secrets to ISI. Investigation revealed that Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu reported the movement of Indian Army units to Pakistan intelligence agency while residing on the periphery of the army cantonment.Sidhu also used to propagate the referendum campaign among Sikhs in Punjab on social media platforms, HT reported. He came in contact with the ISI agents after he visited Pakistan on the occasion of Guru Parab (celebrating Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary) around four years ago.The senior officials have said that the pilgrims to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur will be screened for security threats once the corridor opens for public. Since the pilgrims will have to return to their own country on the same day of the pilgrim, security officials consider the chances of recruitment by ISI agents to be limited, reported HT.read more

.BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Tuesday warned that their party will wage a street agitation if the government fails to reach an understanding over holding the 11th parliamentary polls under a neutral government, reports UNB.”People won’t accept if the government again tries to hold a 5-January 2014 election ignoring our demand for having a non-party election-time neutral administration. People will take to the streets to realise their demand,” he said.Mosharraf, a standing committee member Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), came up with the remarks while speaking at a discussion arranged by Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, marking the 53rd birthday of BNP senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman.Mentioning that prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 1996 had said that no fair election can be held under a partisan government, he alleged that she is now denying it in her own interest. “People are now worried about the next election process.”The BNP leader said their chairperson Khaleda Zia will unveil the framework of the election-time supportive government at a suitable time. “We would like to call upon the government to take steps to hold the next polls in a credible manner with the participation of all parties accepting our framework.”He said the government wants to hang onto power through a stage-managed election after convicting BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and the party’s senior leaders as it has got sacred of facing a debacle in fair polls.”I would like to say it clearly that people won’t allow the government to hold the next polls under Sheikh Hasina,” the BNP leader added.He also urged the government to create a level-playing field from now on to ensure a proper election atmosphere and the participation of all parties in the general election.Speaking at the programme, BNP vice chairman Barkatullah Bulu said the government can publish a list of their party leaders whom they want not to take part in the next polls. “Then we’ll put our second or third category of leaders as candidates to contest the election against you. Even after that, you won’t get more than 50 seats.”He also said people will not allow anybody to hold any election in the country keeping Khaleda out of the race.read more